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Historic semi-final match between South Africa and New Zealand

Kolkata: There was an interesting match between South Africa and New Zealand in the first semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 at the Indian ground Eden Gardens. In this match, South African captain Aiden Markram made an important achievement.

New record of Aiden Markram’s captaincy

When Aiden Markram opened the innings with Quinton de Kock, it was his 17th match as captain in the T20 World Cup. With this achievement, he broke the 16-year-old record of former captain Graeme Smith, which he maintained in the T20 World Cup between 2007 and 2010. This special moment became more important for him in the semi-finals. Under his captaincy the team has performed brilliantly in the past too, but this time they had to face defeat against New Zealand. In the last T20 World Cup, under his captaincy, South Africa had reached the finals, but failed to win the title.

Marco Jansen’s outstanding performance

South Africa had a very negative start in this match. Quinton de Kock returned to the pavilion in the second over and Ryan Rickelton was out without scoring. The pressure on the team increased due to continuous fall of wickets. However, Marco Jansen scored a brilliant half-century in the closing overs of the match to take the team to a challenging score of 169 runs.

New Zealand’s fast start

New Zealand’s innings starts very aggressively. Finn Allen and Tim Seifert made a partnership of 117 runs for the first wicket. The first wicket fell in the 10th over, but by then New Zealand was in complete control of the match. Allen scored an unbeaten century in just 33 balls, which included 10 fours and 8 sixes. Seifert also scored a half-century in his innings, which proved to be a strong foundation for the team.

South Africa’s playing-11

Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brewis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Janssen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.

New Zealand’s playing-11

Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner (c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson.